CNN Hits Santorum for His Religious Beliefs

Republican Presidential candidate Rick Santorum merely stated his
affirmation of the Catholic Church's condemnation of contraception, but
CNN's Mary Snow ran a critical segment on Thursday citing liberal outrage and asking if such
statements would hurt him with voters.

In the video clips which
aired in the report, Santorum strongly stated that he would not mix his
opposition to contraception with his policies as president, meaning
that he would not ban contraceptives. Nonetheless, Snow quoted the
pro-abortion and pro-Democrat group Emily's List, as well as
phoney-conservative columnist Jennifer Rubin, as slamming him asout-of-touch.

Just
weeks before, Snow narrated a very one-sided report on the Komen versus
Planned Parenthood controversy, clearly leaning toward Planned
Parenthood’s side. Now she seemed to take issue with the pro-life
Santorum, touting how he is “coming under criticism” for his
anti-contraception beliefs.

“The fact that contraception is even
being raised is drawing fury among groups like Emily's List,” Snow
reported before noting that the group supports Democratic candidates.
“It asks if this is the 2012 presidential election, or 1956, saying
‘It's hard for one extremist to stand out in today's GOP,’” she added
of the group.

A transcript of the segment, which aired on February 16 around 5:29 p.m. EST, is as follows:

CANDY
CROWLEY: Rick Santorum says he's proud to be a conservative and a Catholic. His
politics and his religion are at the center of a controversy unfolding right
now over his views on birth control. Mary Snow is looking into that for us. Hey
Mary.

MARY SNOW, CNN correspondent: Hey there, Candy. Well these comments Rick
Santorum made were six years ago and are gaining attention. He's coming under
criticism as a 2006 interview re-surfaces. But he insists his personal and
public policy are not one and the same.

(Video Clip)

RICK SANTORUM, Republican presidential candidate: Wow.

SNOW: As he gains momentum in polls, Republican presidential hopeful Rick
Santorum's record comes under more scrutiny. And these remarks about
contraception, made in a 2006 interview, have gone viral.

SANTORUM: From a governmental point of view, I support, you know, Title 10, I
guess it is. And I have voted for contraception – although I don't think it
works. I think it's harmful to women, I think it's harmful to our society.

SNOW: Washington Post conservative columnist Jennifer Rubin first posted the
video, writing "The impression that Santorum finds the prevalent practice
of birth control 'harmful to women' is, frankly, mind-numbing. If he meant to
focus on teen sexual promiscuity, he surely could have, and thereby might have
sounded less out of touch."

Santorum also brought up birth control in this interview in October with an
evangelical blog site, saying he considered it an important public policy.

SANTORUM: One of the things I will talk about, that no president has talked
about before is that I think the dangers of contraception to this country, when
the whole sexual libertine idea –

SNOW: But Santorum told CNN's Piers Morgan Wednesday that despite his personal
beliefs, he would not support any law to restrict contraception.

SANTORUM: The issue is, as a public – as a public servant, how do I feel about
the issue of contraception? It should be available.

SNOW: The fact that contraception is even being raised is drawing fury among
groups like Emily's List, which promotes Democratic women candidates supporting
abortion rights. It asks if this is the 2012 presidential election, or 1956,
saying "It's hard for one extremist to stand out in today's GOP.” A new
CNN/ORC poll finds 81 percent of Americans disagree with the notion that birth
control is wrong. 77 percent of Catholics polled feel the same way. Could this
issue hurt Rick Santorum? Republican strategist Mary Matalin says no.

MARY MATALIN, CNN political contributor: He was articulating the Catholic
proposition on contraception. So that's his belief, he specifically said he
would not – his policy position is not to ban birth control when this plays
out. That can't hurt him.

(End Video Clip)

SNOW: Now this isn't the first time talk about contraception has come up in the
Republican presidential campaign. You may have remembered a couple of months
ago, Mitt Romney was asked about it in a debate about whether a state has the
right to ban contraception. He remarked it was an unusual topic being raised,
and he wound up saying in the end that contraception is working just fine, and
in his words, "Leave it alone."

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